


Ango's First Candlenights

by aliensinflowercrowns



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Candlenights, Crew as Family, EVERYONE LOVES EACH OTHER, Family Fluff, M/M, Taakitz as Ango's dads, let! angus! know! he! is! loved!, queer candlenights gift exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 13:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17162441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliensinflowercrowns/pseuds/aliensinflowercrowns
Summary: Taako and Kravitz have invited Angus over to spend Candlenights with them and their family. What surprises do they have in store?





	Ango's First Candlenights

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift for @corvid-squire on tumblr for the Queer Candlenights Gift Exchange!

Kravitz woke to an empty bed, which was strange in itself. His boyfriend, Taako, was not an early riser. Kravitz usually had to spend ten to twenty minutes convincing Taako to get out from under the covers when they actually had somewhere to be. So when he awoke at eight thirty on a Saturday that they both had off from work to cold sheets and empty arms, he was confused as well as concern. 

Kravitz pushed off the covers and grabbed a tee shirt to pull over his bare chest. He wandered out of their bedroom and down the hall of their small apartment, looking for any signs of Taako.

“Taako?” He called, his voice rusty from sleep. “Babe?”

“Kitchen!” Came the reply. 

Kravitz turned the corner to find a war zone. There were trays of latkes, pancakes, waffles, and french toast piled high on the counter. Two pies sat cooling. The smell of gravy was thick in the air. Something was in the oven. Various ingredients were strewn about and it seemed that all of their dishes were piled into the sink. In the center of it all was Taako, standing at the stove, flipping omelets. 

“Whatcha doin’?” Kravitz asked, a little unnerved by the mania. 

Taako turned around and flashed him a smile. He was already dressed, in a soft white shirt with black leggings and an oversized pink cardigan. “Breakfast,” He said. 

“Yeah, I can see that. Is the entire town coming over for breakfast this morning?” 

“No,” Taako scoffed. “What are you talking…” He trained off, surveying the room. “Okay, so I can see that I’ve gone a little overboard.” 

Kravitz chuckled. “A little?” He asked. 

Taako flipped a final omelet and then turned off the stove. 

“I guess I just woke up early and got carried away. No big deal.” 

Kravitz walked over to Taako and wrapped him up in his arms, placing a kiss on his forehead. “So then this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Angus is coming over today?”

Taako scoffed again. “What? No. Of course not. Is that today? I completely forgot.” 

“Mhm.”

“I did! What is it? Tuesday? I can’t be expected to keep up with things.”

“It’s Candlenights, Taaks.”

Taako nodded. “Right, right, yeah. Well. Cool. Good thing we’ll have an extra mouth to help us eat all this.”

“You don’t have to be nervous, babe.”

“Nervous? What do you mean nervous? I’m not nervous. No fuckin’ eleven year old can make me nervous.” 

“Of course not. Especially not one who loves you as much as Angus does.” 

“Uh, cha’yeah. Of course he loves me. I’m Taako.  _ From TV _ . Everyone loves me.” 

Kravitz smiled. He kissed Taako again, on the lips this time. 

The two of them had been dating for a little over a year. They had met through a mutual friend. Well, a few mutual friends. Kravitz was a conductor, and he was about to put on a make or break showcase, when his second violinist got sick. Luckily, his first violinist’s boyfriend worked security for a fancy science laboratory and knew all of the people there. And one of those people just happened to be a classically trained violinist. As well as Taako’s sister. Taako came to the performance, Lup introduced the two of them afterward, and the rest was history. 

Kravitz still marveled at how lucky he was to have met Taako. 

A few months into their relationship, Taako met Angus. Angus had snuck into the IPRE - the laboratory where Taako worked as a chemist - because he wanted to “observe the science.” Taako caught him and rather than immediately kick him out, started showing him around the lab. Angus’s foster mother found him a few hours later. According to Taako, she stormed into the lab demanding to know where Angus was and how he’d snuck out of the house. Taako managed to de-escalate the situation, and somehow worked out a deal where Angus could come over to the lab once a week as long as he told someone where he was going. 

Eventually, Taako started inviting Angus over for dinner, and out to movies, and Kravitz could tell he really fell in love with the kid. Kravitz knew that Taako and his sister didn’t get adopted until they were seventeen, and as much as Taako denied it, he had a real soft spot for kids. Especially kids like Angus, who reminded him so much of himself. 

And now Angus was coming over for the last day of Candlenights. And Taako was freaking out. 

“It’s going to be fine,” Kravitz said again. 

“Yeah, I know it’ll be fine. Of course, it’ll be fine–” 

The doorbell rang. Taako jumped. 

“Fuck!” He yelled. “Go put real clothes on! They’re gonna think we live in a god damn barn!” He shooed Kravitz off to change and ran to the door. 

 

Taako took a deep breath as he reached the door. He could do this. Angus was just a kid. It didn’t matter if he liked Taako or not! That being said, Taako really wanted Angus to like him. 

He watched Kravitz disappear into their bedroom, then looked back at the door, and his hand on the doorknob. He forced his face into a neutral position and threw the door open. 

“Agnes!” He said. Angus and his social worker, Brad, were standing in the hallway of Taako’s apartment building. 

“Er, it’s Angus, sir. Still Angus.” 

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” 

“Uh…”

Taako smiled. “I’m just kidding, kid. Come in, you must be fu– you must be starving.” 

Taako moved aside so that Angus could step into the apartment. The kid took a small, nervous step in. He was dressed in a blue shirt with a maroon sweater vest and jeans. His curly hair was clearly patted down with nothing but water, and his glasses looked newly cleaned. It was adorable. 

“Angus!” Taako heard Kravitz say as he bounded down the hallway. He was dressed in black suit pants and a white button-down shirt. His dreadlocks had been put into a bun. “Good to see you.” 

Angus smiled nervously and waved. Taako turned to Brad. 

“So,” He said. “Bradson–”

“Please, Taako, we’re friends, you don’t have to call me by my last name.” 

“Your name is Brad Bradson?” Taako asked. 

“Isn’t yours Taako Tacco?”

“Taako Highchurch-Davenport, actually.” 

“Of course. Forgive me.”

“Anyway, is there anything I need to sign? Like a waiver or something that says if the kid gets killed I’ll pay for the funeral?” He chuckled awkwardly when Brad raised an eyebrow. “I’m just, uh, kidding.”

“If you could sign this, please,” Brad said pleasantly. He held out a clipboard with a form attached. Taako nodded and signed the signature line. He handed it back to Brad. 

“Alright, well, I’ll come to pick Angus back up at seven. Angus, you have your phone, yes?” Angus nodded and held up an old flip phone. “Alright,” Brad said. “Message me every hour, please.” 

Angus nodded. “Yes sir,” He said. 

“You kids have fun!” Brad said, waving as he left. 

Taako waved as well and shut the door behind him. 

He turned to Angus, who smiled weakly. 

“So,” He said. “Have you had breakfast?” 

“Uh, no, sir,” Angus said. 

“Ango, how many times have I told you to cut that ‘sir’ shit out?” 

“Sorry, s-Taako.” 

Taako sighed. Angus was fiddling with a loose thread in his clearly hand-me-down sweater. Angus didn’t like to talk about his foster home life, but Taako knew it was rough. He knew it was rough both from his own experiences and from Angus’s body language and reactions. Taako wished that he could swoop in and save the kid. 

“Do you want breakfast?” He asked. 

“I mean, you don’t have to, I–”

“Angus, I made like, so much food. Oh my god like so much food. Like I’ll be pissed if you don’t eat it.” 

Angus giggled. “Okay then.”

Taako smiled. He grabbed Angus by the hand. “Come on, kid.” He dragged him to the kitchen. Kravitz made Vannah White hands framing their food-filled kitchen. 

Angus’s eyes widened. “Woah,” he said. 

“Like I said,” Taako said. “So much food.”

“Have as much as you want,” Kravitz said. 

“I don’t–I probably shouldn’t–”

“Lemme get you a plate,” Taako said. He grabbed a plate and began to pile it with food he thought Angus would like. 

After setting Angus up at their small dining table, Kravitz and Taako went through picking out food for themselves. 

“He looks happy,” Kravitz whispered. 

“Yeah,” Taako said. “I hope so.” 

 

They had only barely finished breakfast when the door burst open. 

“Candle _ nights _ , motherfuckers!” The voice of Taako’s sister, Lup, rang through the apartment. Angus smiled and jumped out of his seat to go greet her. He was halfway there when he realized that he didn’t put his plate up, and a shot of fear ran through him. He went to take it back, but Taako had already picked it up and carried it to the sink. 

“You need somethin’ pumpkin?” He asked. 

Angus shook his head. He turned back around and ran to Lup. She and Barry were taking off their snow clothes. 

“Angus!” Lup said. “How’s my favorite nephew doing!” 

“I’m not actually your–”

“Details, details, give me a  _ hug _ , little dude!” 

Angus smiled and wrapped Lup in a hug. Barry walked over and ruffled his hair. 

“Hey, Angus,” he said. “Happy Candlenights.” 

“Happy Candlenights, sir!” Angus said. 

“Wait a minute!” Someone said. Angus turned to see Magnus Burnsides-Waxmen-Davenport-Highchurch (Taako’s adoptive brother), standing in the doorway with his arms full of presents. “Is it Candlenights? Shit! I totally forgot. Good thing I brought all these presents anyway!” 

His wife, Julia Waxmen-Burnsides-Davenport-Highchurch rolled her eyes affectionately. She was standing next to him, holding their baby daughter June. 

“Make sure you put your presents under the Candlenights bush,” Taako said, walking into the room. “Unlike these animals.” He pointed his thumb at Lup and Barry. “This place is already tiny, we don’t need shit everywhere.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Lup said, pulling her brother into a tight hug while Barry began to move presents. “I haven’t seen you in forever,” she groaned as she rocked him from side to side. “When are you guys moving in with me and Barold?”

Taako released his sister. “As soon as our lease is up.” 

Angus’s heart clenched. Taako and Kravitz were moving away? Is that why they’d invited him to spend Candlenights with them? So that they could let him down gently?

“You… you guys are moving?” Angus asked. 

“Just across town,” Kravitz said. “Lup and Barry bought a big five-bedroom house and we’re gonna move in with them so we can have more space.” 

“Oh,” Angus said, relieved that they weren’t leaving. “Why do you need more space?” 

Taako and Kravitz shared a look. 

“No reason,” Taako shrugged. “Just… feelin’ a little cramped, is all.”

“The new house is great, Ango,” Lup said. “We got an awesome deal on it cause everyone says that it’s haunted.” 

Angus giggled. 

“You’ll have to come by sometime to help us bust ghosts!” Barry added. 

“I would really like that,” Angus said. This was another reason why he loved being with Taako and Kravitz. What had started with just Taako letting him observe his work in the lab had turned into so much more. First, there was Kravitz, then Lup and Barry, then the rest of Taako’s massive family. Angus felt like he had all these people who cared about him. He wished that he was as close to his foster family as Taako and Lup were to theirs. He knew that Merle and Davenport had adopted Taako and Lup as well as Magnus and Lucretia. He also knew that it was super rare for stuff like that to happen. He’d probably never get adopted for real, so this was the next best thing. 

“Where’s Lucretia?” Taako asked. 

Magnus began to talk. “She’s on her–”

“Sorry I’m late!” A voice ran out through the hallway. Lucretia came barreling into the room, her arms full of carefully wrapped gifts. While Lucretia was the youngest family member, she had been living with Merle and Davenport the longest and was the only one who still lived at their house, as she was working her way through a PhD program. She walked in and placed the presents carefully under the Candlenights bush, then pulled everyone in the room into a tight hug, with a kiss on the forehead for baby June. “Dad and Pops said that they’d be down in a few hours and to open presents without them. They said they wanted alone time.” 

“Disgusting,” Taako said. 

Magnus and Lup nodded. 

“Come on guys,” Kravitz said. “They’ve been married for what, twenty years?”

“Yeah,” Julia added. “They have s–”

“If you finish that sentence I will ban you from my house don’t even trip,” Taako said. 

Kravitz and Julia fell into a fit of giggles. Angus saw Barry trying (and failing) to hide a smile. 

“Let’s stop this conversation right now and open presents!” Magnus said loudly. The baby in Julia’s arms cooed in agreement. 

They all migrated over to the Candlenights bush and began to hand out presents, person by person. They began with baby June and everyone cooed over all of the cute baby shit that she got. Then they went to Julia, then Magnus, Kravitz, Taako, Lup, Barry, and finally Lucretia. 

“Who are all the rest of these presents for?” Angus asked. “Mr. and Mr. Davenport-Highchurch?” 

Taako smiled. “Hell no kiddo. They’re for you. Duh.” 

“What?” Angus was genuinely bewildered. 

“Yeah,” Kravitz said. “We wanted to save yours until the end since you definitely have the most presents to open.” 

Everyone else nodded in agreement. 

Angus felt tears welling up in his eyes. “But I’m not… I don’t… you shouldn’t have.” 

“Holy shit, Agnes, are you crying?” Taako asked, getting off the couch and kneeling down to where Angus was on the floor. 

“N-No,” Angus muttered, wiping at his eyes. 

Taako gently took his hand. “Hey, pumpkin, it’s okay. You don’t have to take them if you don’t want them.”

“No, I-I want the presents I just… I didn’t think you guys would get me anything.” 

“Of course we got you presents,” Kravitz said. 

“Yeah,” Lup said. “You’re part of the family.” 

“I–Really?” 

“Of course, Angus,” Julia said. “You don’t have to be related by blood or law to be a part of our family.” 

“You’ve been around here about as long as baby June has,” Magnus said. “And she’s definitely part of the family.” 

Angus laughed and smiled. Lucretia handed him a present wrapped in sparkly pink foil. “This one is from Taako,” she said. 

Angus took the present and tore it open. It was a fancy microscope, a miniature version of the one Taako used in his lab. Angus gasped. 

“Oh my god, sir, I, Taako, I, I love it! Thank you so much!” He pulled Taako into a hug. 

Taako wrapped his arms around Angus. “Yeah, well, there’s a… there’s plenty more, so don’t waste all your energy on this one,” he said, voice fond. 

 

A few hours later, Taako and Lup were in the kitchen working on dinner while Kravitz stood against the wall rocking the baby to sleep. Davenport and Merle had come over and were sipping wine and playing cards with Lucretia. Julia was in the bedroom taking a well-earned nap, and Angus was absolutely schooling Barry and Magnus at dreidel. 

“ _ Gimmel _ again?” Magnus said as Angus took all the gelt into his pot. “Jeez, kid, how are you so good at this?” 

Angus shrugged. Kravitz knew how he was so good at it. Taako had given him a weighted dreidel that always landed on  _ gimmel _ if you spun it a certain way. 

Angus smiled and shrugged. Kravitz caught his eye and winked. 

“So…” Lup said, lightly smacking her brother with a dish towel. “When are you two gonna pop the question?” 

“After everyone leaves tonight,” Taako said. “We didn’t want to overwhelm him with everyone being here. But that means you chucklefucks have to be gone by six thirty, cause Brad comes to get him at seven.” 

Lup nodded. “I’ll make sure everyone leaves. Besides, the sun sets at five so we should be able to light the candles then and have plenty of time to eat dinner while they melt down.” 

Taako nodded. 

“Are you nervous?” Lup asked.

“Taako doesn’t get nervous,” Taako lied. 

Lup rolled her eyes. She looked at Kravitz and raised an eyebrow. 

“A little,” he said. 

“Well, I think you guys are gonna be great–”

“Hey, Lup!” Angus said, running into the kitchen. “You wanna play dreidel? Barry and Taako ran out of  _ gelt _ so we’re using quarters now.” 

Lup smirked. “Kid, I made that dreidel you’re using. I literally invented this grift. But I’m sure Kravitz will play with you.” 

Kravitz blushed, not wanting to lose his cash. “I, um, the baby–”

“I can take her,” Taako said, his grin matching his sister’s. “Go get ‘em, babe.” 

Kravitz sighed, but transferred June to his boyfriend’s arms. 

“You know, Taako hasn’t taught me how to do the spin,” he whispered to Angus. 

“Yeah, I know,” Angus said, grinning. 

“He says it’s a family secret.”

Angus nodded, and his smile grew wider. 

 

“Hey kid, do you wanna light the candles?” Merle asked. 

“What? Me? I don’t…”

Taako smiled and put a hand on Angus’s shoulder. “Yeah, you. We take turns lighting the candles every night of Candlenights. I lit them the first night, natch, then Lup, then Mango, then Lucy, then Barry, Krav, and Julia, and then last night Davenport did it.”

“So wouldn’t that mean it was your turn, Mr. Merle?” Angus asked. 

Merle shrugged. “I’ve lit enough menorahs to last me several lifetimes, what with my job and all. You go for it.” 

Angus smiled. “I um, I haven’t lit the menorah since my grandpa died,” he confessed. 

Taako squeezed his shoulder affectionately, his heart clenching up a bit. “It’s okay. We all go through dry spells.”

“Here, Angus, let me help you with the lighter,” Magnus said. Taako released Angus and turned back to Merle. 

“ _ Thank you, _ ” he mouthed. 

Merle shrugged and made a “don’t worry about it,” gesture. 

Taako smiled again, then turned towards the menorah as Kravitz hit the lights and they all sang the blessings. 

“Alright chucklefucks,” Lup said about thirty seconds after they finished singing. “Let’s eat!” 

Dinner with Taako’s family was always something special. Magnus broke a plate. Lucretia downed half a box of wine. Lup threw a turkey leg at Merle’s head. Julia dared Barry to eat something too disgusting mention and then he did and she almost cried. Kravitz got potatoes in his hair. Taako dumped a drink down Lup’s shirt. Davenport stood on the table and yelled at all of them for acting like children. Somehow June slept through the whole thing. It was glorious. 

Taako kept an eye on Angus throughout the entire thing to make sure that he wasn’t feeling overwhelmed, but he had a huge smile on his face the entire time, even as Magnus accidentally lobed a biscuit at his face. (He was aiming for Lucretia.)

At six fifteen, Lup started to clear the table. 

“Hey!” Merle protested as she grabbed his half-eaten plate of food. “I wasn’t done with that!” 

“Don’t care!” Lup yelled. “Everybody out! Let’s go! Come on! I’ve got a surprise over at my place and you don’t want to miss it!” 

“Thanks,” Taako whispered to her as she passed him. 

She smiled. “The surprise is that I’m gonna make them help me and Barry unpack the home lab.” 

Taako smiled as well. “Don’t let them break any of my shit.”

“Good luck,” Lup said and winked. She stood up and yelled again. “Last one to the parking lot gets eaten by Terry the Nondenominational Gift Delivery Dragon!” 

“Are we gonna go, sirs?” Angus asked, looking between Taako and Kravitz. 

“We’re actually gonna stay here,” Kravitz said. “But we’ll take you to Lup and Barry’s house soon.” 

“Oh,” Angus said. “Uh, okay. Bye, everyone!” 

“Bye Angus!” Lucretia said. 

“We love you!” Magnus and Julia chorused. 

“See you soon, kid,” Merle said. 

“Always a pleasure, Angus,” Davenport said. 

“Later, Ango,” Barry said, patting Angus on the head. 

“Love you more than time and space little man!” Lup called, slamming the door behind her. 

Taako turned to Angus as the door closed and took a deep breath. “Do you want some ice cream?” 

 

Angus sat on Taako and Kravitz’s couch, surrounded by wrapping paper, wrapped up in a blanket knitted by one of Kravitz’s moms and holding a bowl of rocky road ice cream. Taako and Kravitz were sitting across from him, Kravitz in the armchair and Taako perched on the armrest. 

“What is this about?” Angus asked, his heart pumping a million miles a minute. 

“Well…” Kravitz began. “We’ve um, we’ve been thinking, lately, and, uh, feel–feel free to say no, but we were wondering… uh, Taako?”

Taako took a deep breath. “We want to adopt you, Angus. Kravitz and I.”

Angus felt his eyes widen. He dropped his spoon. “What.” 

“That’s why we’re moving in with Barry and Lup,” Kravitz said. “So that you can have space. A bedroom to yourself and a big backyard–”

“And there are other kids in the neighborhood, it’s really close to Magnus and Julia’s place, too–”

“And right by a really great school for gifted students.” 

“You really want to adopt me?” Angus asked. “Me?”

Taako and Kravitz nodded. “We’ve been taking classes and stuff, and working on getting our foster licenses,” Taako said. “We didn’t want to tell you until they’d been approved, but we just got the approval a few days ago… it was perfect timing, really.” 

“And we’ve been working on filling out paperwork and stuff for the actual adoption,” Kravitz added. “Our lease ends next month, and once we move into Barry and Lup’s place you’re welcome to come move in with us. Then we can start reviews and everything for adoption.”

“That is, of course, if you want us to adopt you,” Taako said. “Which it would be totally chill if you didn’t. We can still hang out and stuff.”

“But…” Angus looked at his hands, and his slowly melting ice cream. “I’m not… I’m not a baby. I’m not cute or special or anything. I’m just… me.”

Taako smiled. “Yeah, duh, of course you’re you. That's what we want.”

“Angus,” Kravitz said. “We love you. So much. Our families love you. You’re… our family wouldn’t be complete without you.”

Angus wiped at his eyes. “You mean it?”

Taako smiled. A tear slipped down his cheek. “Hell yeah, pumpkin,” he said. 

Angus threw off the blanket and pulled Kravitz and Taako into a hug. Pull his  _ dads _ into a hug. 

“I love you guys too,” he said, his voice watery. “And… I would love to be adopted by you.” 

Their touching moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“Hello?” Someone called out. “It’s Brad.”

Taako sighed heavily. Angus giggled. 

“Here,” Kravitz said. “Let’s gather up all of your presents.” 

“Do you think you could actually keep them here?” Angus said. “I don’t want them getting fucked up by the other kids.” 

Kravitz nodded. 

Taako opened the door for Brad. 

“Are you ready to go, Angus?” He asked. 

Angus nodded. “I guess,” he said.

“We’ll see you soon, Ango,” Taako said, pulling Angus into a hug. “Happy Candlenights,” he said. “I’m glad you were here.”

“Happy Candlenights, Taako.” 

Angus went to hug Kravitz. “Happy Candlenights, Kravitz.”

“Happy Candlenights,” Kravitz said. “The first of many where we’re all together.” 

**Author's Note:**

> happy candlenights! leave a comment if you're feeling particularly lovely, and follow me on tumblr @ipretwins


End file.
